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My Big TOE Trilogy #1
My Big TOE: Awakening: Book 1 of a Trilogy Unifying Philosophy, Physics, and Metaphysics
Book 1 of the MY Big TOE trilogy. My Big TOE, written by a nuclear physicist in the language contemporary culture, unifies science and philosophy, physics and metaphysics, mind and matter, purpose and meaning, the normal and the paranormal. The entirety of human experience (mind, body, and spirit) including both our objective and subjective worlds is brought together under one seamless scientific understanding. Book 1: Awakening – Section 1 provides a partial biography of the author that is pertinent to the subsequent creation of this trilogy. This brief look at the author's unique experience and credentials sheds some light upon the origins of this highly unusual work. Section 2 lays out and defines the basic conceptual building blocks needed to construct My Big TOE's conceptual foundation. It discusses the cultural beliefs that trap our thinking into a narrow and limited conceptualization of reality, defines the basics of Big Picture epistemology and ontology; logically infers the nature of time, space, and consciousness as well as describes the basic properties, purpose, and mechanics of our reality. Many of the concepts initiated in Section 2 are more fully explained in Book 2.
288 pages, Paperback
First published February 13, 2003
505 people are currently reading
985 people want to read
About the author
Thomas Campbell
8 books113 followersPhysicist; author of "My Big TOE." TOE is an acronym for Theory of Everything.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 56 reviews
January 5, 2015
This could've been great if he'd just been able to say what he wanted to say. But instead of doing that, he decided that he knew the landscape of every reader's mind and proceeded to terraform those minds, then landscape them, then construct a proper nursery where his ideas would have a chance to take root and grow.
I have never read a book where an author talks so much about what he's going to tell you, and does so little actual telling.
If you decide to read this, I recommend starting on chapter 2. The introduction, and preface are 12% of the book. That's the first time he tells you about what he's going to tell you. After the very fascinating background story that begins in chapter two, he goes off track again until about 60% of the book.
I just kept skipping pages, looking for when he was going to get to his actual Theory of Everything. Finally, I saw a sentence where he said, "Now let's get back to the theory." And then he proceeded to ramble off-track again until he said the same thing again. Then he rambled more and more and I kept skipping pages until I saw at the end of a paragraph that he said, Now you've been properly primed and initiated, or something to that effect, "So let us begin!" And then there was a few more pages where he builds up to what he's about to finally tell you about his theory and then.... here it comes.... almost there... getting really, really close now.... any sentence now.... and....
...And it's over. That's the end of the first book.
If you're looking for a theory of everything that explains life in the physical and non-physical realms, and is scientifically sound, I do not recommend this book.
Save your money, time, and aggravation and consider reading Our Ultimate Reality - Life, The Universe, & the Destiny of Mankind. (You can find a free PDF online if the $33 paperback is outside your budget.)
You'll come to the same conclusion as you would if you read all three of Campbell's books, but without beating every square inch of every acre surrounding the bush.
Campbell needs to try reading his own book to discover what a tedious and unsatisfying experience it is. He needs to redo it, starting from where his background story ended, and pick it up from there, making it a personal story of his experiences, and inserting what he learned along the way, how he learned it, and how he confirmed that what he learned was valid and scientific.
I would only recommend that you read this if you're a scientist and you want to imagine things not in directly spoken language, but with everything reduced to an abstract model with acronyms you'll need to memorize to make sense of anything the further and further you find yourself out on a thinning semantic branch.
I have never read a book where an author talks so much about what he's going to tell you, and does so little actual telling.
If you decide to read this, I recommend starting on chapter 2. The introduction, and preface are 12% of the book. That's the first time he tells you about what he's going to tell you. After the very fascinating background story that begins in chapter two, he goes off track again until about 60% of the book.
I just kept skipping pages, looking for when he was going to get to his actual Theory of Everything. Finally, I saw a sentence where he said, "Now let's get back to the theory." And then he proceeded to ramble off-track again until he said the same thing again. Then he rambled more and more and I kept skipping pages until I saw at the end of a paragraph that he said, Now you've been properly primed and initiated, or something to that effect, "So let us begin!" And then there was a few more pages where he builds up to what he's about to finally tell you about his theory and then.... here it comes.... almost there... getting really, really close now.... any sentence now.... and....
...And it's over. That's the end of the first book.
If you're looking for a theory of everything that explains life in the physical and non-physical realms, and is scientifically sound, I do not recommend this book.
Save your money, time, and aggravation and consider reading Our Ultimate Reality - Life, The Universe, & the Destiny of Mankind. (You can find a free PDF online if the $33 paperback is outside your budget.)
You'll come to the same conclusion as you would if you read all three of Campbell's books, but without beating every square inch of every acre surrounding the bush.
Campbell needs to try reading his own book to discover what a tedious and unsatisfying experience it is. He needs to redo it, starting from where his background story ended, and pick it up from there, making it a personal story of his experiences, and inserting what he learned along the way, how he learned it, and how he confirmed that what he learned was valid and scientific.
I would only recommend that you read this if you're a scientist and you want to imagine things not in directly spoken language, but with everything reduced to an abstract model with acronyms you'll need to memorize to make sense of anything the further and further you find yourself out on a thinning semantic branch.
March 18, 2013
The ideas, the thoughts are good, but my god, is this book damn tedious. There are numerous ways to present this without making your reader fall asleep every single time he picks up the book. I've read other author's works on similar topics and they did not bore me to death as much as this one did.
However, who am i to say that it's bad? it's Tom Campbell after all. All i'm saying is that his style is not for me. I couldn't even GET TO the ideas over the tediousness of his writing style.. Perhaps there are people who this books speaks better to (like my friend who gave it to me to read), but if you have already read something of the like, chances are that you'll just be bored to death with the over-explaining.
However, who am i to say that it's bad? it's Tom Campbell after all. All i'm saying is that his style is not for me. I couldn't even GET TO the ideas over the tediousness of his writing style.. Perhaps there are people who this books speaks better to (like my friend who gave it to me to read), but if you have already read something of the like, chances are that you'll just be bored to death with the over-explaining.
October 29, 2008
This guy is verbose and over explains everything, just like me. I love it!
July 23, 2015
4.5 stars!
January 24, 2021
A must-read for everyone interested in the big picture view of reality.
Big Truth, like wisdom, is not something you can teach or learn from a book. It must be comprehended by individuals within the context of their experience. Each of us comes to an understanding of reality through our interpretation of our physical and mental experiences
If you have enough direct experience and a deep understanding of what is being modeled, the model becomes superfluous. With no direct experience, the model enables an understanding that is otherwise impossible to attain
If our experience is limited to a small part of a larger reality, it is only reasonable to assume that beyond the limit of our possible knowing there may well exist a host of phenomena, interactions, relationships, and ordered happenings upon which our reality and existence profoundly depends, but of which we cannot directly perceive
By the logic of causality, beginnings are illogical. The logic of causality requires (because we do exist) the initial existence from which we are derived to erupt spontaneously from nothing. Clearly, the notion of objective causality must violate its own logic in order to get started.
The quality of your being expresses the correctness of your understanding.
Your intellect can only take you so far in your exploration of Big Truth; it can direct your search but cannot cause you to learn anything of deeper significance. On the other hand, your intellect can cause you to squander every opportunity to know Big Truth
By now, you may be wondering if there is such a thing as good belief. I can best answer that question with another question. Is there such a thing as good ignorance — is there any situation where ignorance is better, more valuable, than knowledge? If there is, then wherever and whenever ignorance is best, that is where you will find a good belief.
Some individuals believe that their belief systems are perfect — that their only problem is an imperfect implementation of those beliefs. No way! You are who you are. You absolutely reflect your actual beliefs completely and accurately. The quality of your being necessarily reflects the quality, the correctness, of your beliefs and understanding
No group, regardless of how small or large, can possibly create and bestow experience-based understanding, integrity, and personal growth (the basis of wisdom) upon an individual. The individual must accomplish that. However, there are some things that groups and organizations can create and bestow — power, influence, wealth, and prestige come immediately to mind. These attributes, delegated primarily to the group's leadership, are created by recruiting and maintaining large numbers of members or supporters. The group's members find mutual support, approval, status, political power, and security.
The subset does not have what it takes to understand the superset. To understand the superset, one must first become a member of it.
Because improving the quality of your consciousness (spiritual growth) is not, and cannot be, an intellectual achievement, it makes little difference how you intellectually approach the initiation of such improvements.
A mind that is not free is simply a self-referential belief machine that continuously spins off useless and unprofitable thought energy. Belief and fear are the only ties that can bind a mind, while unconditional love and open minded skepticism set it free. A body may be enslaved by others, while a mind can only be enslaved by itself.
Your ability to take intelligent action depends upon the depth of your vision and the quality of your understanding. The smaller your perspective and understanding, the more likely you are to inadvertently shoot yourself in the foot. Low quality consciousness does not see the Big Picture and makes short-sighted decisions for near term gain. To a being of low quality, feel-good appears more important than do-good which appears more important than be-good.
The idea of an isotropic space begins with the definition of light speed as the primary constraining constant.
Time, or equivalently, frequency is a fundamental attribute of AUM, whereas the notion of space is derived from time by specifying a constant velocity of propagation of information. That is why the citizens of space-time must live with c as the celestial speed limit. Time is fundamental; space is derived from time by specifying the constraint c.
When you believe that you know, but do not, you cut yourself off from the possibility of ever knowing. The knowledge that lies outside the possibilities allowed by your core beliefs is beyond your intellectual reach — entirely invisible to your self-limited vision
Human cultures are little more than communities of shared belief where common belief-blindness leads to erroneous conclusions that are universally held as obvious truth.
Big Truth, like wisdom, is not something you can teach or learn from a book. It must be comprehended by individuals within the context of their experience. Each of us comes to an understanding of reality through our interpretation of our physical and mental experiences
If you have enough direct experience and a deep understanding of what is being modeled, the model becomes superfluous. With no direct experience, the model enables an understanding that is otherwise impossible to attain
If our experience is limited to a small part of a larger reality, it is only reasonable to assume that beyond the limit of our possible knowing there may well exist a host of phenomena, interactions, relationships, and ordered happenings upon which our reality and existence profoundly depends, but of which we cannot directly perceive
By the logic of causality, beginnings are illogical. The logic of causality requires (because we do exist) the initial existence from which we are derived to erupt spontaneously from nothing. Clearly, the notion of objective causality must violate its own logic in order to get started.
The quality of your being expresses the correctness of your understanding.
Your intellect can only take you so far in your exploration of Big Truth; it can direct your search but cannot cause you to learn anything of deeper significance. On the other hand, your intellect can cause you to squander every opportunity to know Big Truth
By now, you may be wondering if there is such a thing as good belief. I can best answer that question with another question. Is there such a thing as good ignorance — is there any situation where ignorance is better, more valuable, than knowledge? If there is, then wherever and whenever ignorance is best, that is where you will find a good belief.
Some individuals believe that their belief systems are perfect — that their only problem is an imperfect implementation of those beliefs. No way! You are who you are. You absolutely reflect your actual beliefs completely and accurately. The quality of your being necessarily reflects the quality, the correctness, of your beliefs and understanding
No group, regardless of how small or large, can possibly create and bestow experience-based understanding, integrity, and personal growth (the basis of wisdom) upon an individual. The individual must accomplish that. However, there are some things that groups and organizations can create and bestow — power, influence, wealth, and prestige come immediately to mind. These attributes, delegated primarily to the group's leadership, are created by recruiting and maintaining large numbers of members or supporters. The group's members find mutual support, approval, status, political power, and security.
The subset does not have what it takes to understand the superset. To understand the superset, one must first become a member of it.
Because improving the quality of your consciousness (spiritual growth) is not, and cannot be, an intellectual achievement, it makes little difference how you intellectually approach the initiation of such improvements.
A mind that is not free is simply a self-referential belief machine that continuously spins off useless and unprofitable thought energy. Belief and fear are the only ties that can bind a mind, while unconditional love and open minded skepticism set it free. A body may be enslaved by others, while a mind can only be enslaved by itself.
Your ability to take intelligent action depends upon the depth of your vision and the quality of your understanding. The smaller your perspective and understanding, the more likely you are to inadvertently shoot yourself in the foot. Low quality consciousness does not see the Big Picture and makes short-sighted decisions for near term gain. To a being of low quality, feel-good appears more important than do-good which appears more important than be-good.
The idea of an isotropic space begins with the definition of light speed as the primary constraining constant.
Time, or equivalently, frequency is a fundamental attribute of AUM, whereas the notion of space is derived from time by specifying a constant velocity of propagation of information. That is why the citizens of space-time must live with c as the celestial speed limit. Time is fundamental; space is derived from time by specifying the constraint c.
When you believe that you know, but do not, you cut yourself off from the possibility of ever knowing. The knowledge that lies outside the possibilities allowed by your core beliefs is beyond your intellectual reach — entirely invisible to your self-limited vision
Human cultures are little more than communities of shared belief where common belief-blindness leads to erroneous conclusions that are universally held as obvious truth.
March 30, 2021
If the author would have written all the book as auto-biographical recount of his own path like he does at the beginning of the book, this would have been a marvelous experience.
He decided instead to spent most of his time announcing what would come further along on the books (3 of them, not just this one), and to remind us over and over again to have an open mind, which should not be necessary if you consider that I'm reading your book to begin with and that indicates that I'm opened to that type of novel views of reality.
A very tedious read that left me with a few interesting ideas about the nature of reality and "God" or "AUM" as the author prefers to call him.
He decided instead to spent most of his time announcing what would come further along on the books (3 of them, not just this one), and to remind us over and over again to have an open mind, which should not be necessary if you consider that I'm reading your book to begin with and that indicates that I'm opened to that type of novel views of reality.
A very tedious read that left me with a few interesting ideas about the nature of reality and "God" or "AUM" as the author prefers to call him.
August 3, 2014
First one down, two more to go. This challenging book has changed my worldview, and in turn my life, more than any other book. TOE stands for Theory of Everything. Thomas Campbell is a physicist and consciousness researcher who relates some of his personal journey ("skin in the game," as Nassim Taleb would say approvingly) in improving the quality of his consciousness, namely, evolving toward love. Using the most basic and fundamental concepts of science, Campbell asks the reader to be an open-minded skeptic while sharing his contrarian explanation for how all phenomena can be unified, from the Big Bang to love.
For any literal-minded, logical, left-brained types who struggle to understand how it is that we wake up in the world every day to *this* experience, have to deal with so many different kinds of problems, and sometimes experience existential angst, Campbell's first book provides the reader with clues for how to value experience and improve the quality of our consciousness. There is no dogma here, and no egotistical "advice"--just ancient wisdom for understanding the ocean of consciousness we are floating around in, put into common computing terms for the modern readership. While reading, I had to create a separate spreadsheet just to keep track of the quotes and ideas that really picked my lock and set my literal, logical mind free.
After reading this book, I now have good reason to think any thoughts I am capable of thinking, stray from my routine for any reason, never feel trapped or un-free in my decision making, feel genuine belonging at all times, and not fear the *game over* of death. This book took me forever to read because I found the ideas dangerous to my sense of understanding of my world. However, nothing ceased to exist (except some of my ego), and my life and the outside world go on just as they always have. A blown mind heals, I find.
Always a skeptic, however, Campbell says: "An individual's quality cannot be increased one single iota by any belief, or by accumulating information about anything, or by doing good deeds that are not properly motivated, or by talking to others or reading books."
One must live it. I highly recommend this to any reader who is ready for a worthwhile challenge. Well worth the investment.
For any literal-minded, logical, left-brained types who struggle to understand how it is that we wake up in the world every day to *this* experience, have to deal with so many different kinds of problems, and sometimes experience existential angst, Campbell's first book provides the reader with clues for how to value experience and improve the quality of our consciousness. There is no dogma here, and no egotistical "advice"--just ancient wisdom for understanding the ocean of consciousness we are floating around in, put into common computing terms for the modern readership. While reading, I had to create a separate spreadsheet just to keep track of the quotes and ideas that really picked my lock and set my literal, logical mind free.
After reading this book, I now have good reason to think any thoughts I am capable of thinking, stray from my routine for any reason, never feel trapped or un-free in my decision making, feel genuine belonging at all times, and not fear the *game over* of death. This book took me forever to read because I found the ideas dangerous to my sense of understanding of my world. However, nothing ceased to exist (except some of my ego), and my life and the outside world go on just as they always have. A blown mind heals, I find.
Always a skeptic, however, Campbell says: "An individual's quality cannot be increased one single iota by any belief, or by accumulating information about anything, or by doing good deeds that are not properly motivated, or by talking to others or reading books."
One must live it. I highly recommend this to any reader who is ready for a worthwhile challenge. Well worth the investment.
November 4, 2020
Part I is a brief autobiography of how the author discovered that reality is bigger than he'd imagined and subsequently began to study and do experiments on the nature of reality.
Part II discusses the nature of belief, knowledge, and pseudo-knowledge before painting the broad strokes of His Big Picture Theory of Everything.
Unlike many reviewers, I find most content seems reasonable to include, aside from critiques of normal people and how they're so bad at maintaining Open-Minded Skepticism. :-p
The two tenets of his Big TOE are:
1) Evolutionary Process :- that which is profitable populates universe.
2) Absolute Unbounded Manifold :- idealist awareness that dances the evolutionary process.
Contrary to the name, the author stresses that the AUM need not actually be infinite, just relatively infinite compared to us. Moreover, we can't know the actual beginning of existence (though we can speculate as to how it may be possible).
Anyway, I find it good fun :-)
Part II discusses the nature of belief, knowledge, and pseudo-knowledge before painting the broad strokes of His Big Picture Theory of Everything.
Unlike many reviewers, I find most content seems reasonable to include, aside from critiques of normal people and how they're so bad at maintaining Open-Minded Skepticism. :-p
The two tenets of his Big TOE are:
1) Evolutionary Process :- that which is profitable populates universe.
2) Absolute Unbounded Manifold :- idealist awareness that dances the evolutionary process.
Contrary to the name, the author stresses that the AUM need not actually be infinite, just relatively infinite compared to us. Moreover, we can't know the actual beginning of existence (though we can speculate as to how it may be possible).
Anyway, I find it good fun :-)
October 10, 2013
Interesting but longer than the subject deserves.
October 3, 2017
Tom Campbell's Big Toe (Big Theory of Everything, not the one on his foot) is quite fascinating and I've been enjoying his lectures on YouTube for a few years now. I finally got around to reading his first book in the trilogy, in which he describes his beginnings as a young physicist collaborating with Robert Monroe and developing consciousness research protocols.
I've found the first section of the book, the biographical part, to be quite enjoyable and well written. The second part of the book, which touches upon the basic foundations of his theory and the mathematics behind it, could have, as others have already commented, been more engaging in spite of the highly interesting subject matter it deals with. Then again, an attempt to make the theory more palatable would likely lend itself to anthropomorphizing a theory that is grounded in abstract probability states of linear non physical base existence (the absolute unbound oneness / manifold) which would make things seem more relatable but paradoxically further obfuscate any meaning.
It's difficult to rate this book and I have a lot of conflicted feelings about my experience with it. There are several strong points and aspects that I did appreciate, but there are also a lot of things that could have been omitted.
The Positives:
- An enjoyable subjective narrative in the first section
- A highly interesting and solid theory that encourages you to think and wonder
- Some good pointers on practical meditation techniques
- A constant reminder to remain open-minded and skeptical throughout the book
- A good section discussing the limitations of belief-traps and the difference between knowledge derived from first hand experience (widsom) and second-hand knowledge accepted as belief (pseudo-knowledge / ignorance)
- Tom's sense of humor
The Negatives:
- Sometimes tedious writing - especially the sections on space-time and time quantas
- An extremely abstract and long-winded postulate on the base potential of larger reality from which physical and non-physical matter subsets are derived
- A LOT of repetition that starts with the preface and continues throughout the book
- Too much fluff (although helpful in reinforcing certain concepts), it feels like the book ended just when it was starting to discuss the more interesting connections and workings of his theory in detail (these will hopefully be elaborated upon in books 2 and 3...)
- Tom's sense of humor
Tom's theory and ideas can be intriguing, useful and applicable (though I've derived most of my general understanding from his lectures, not this book) if approached with an open and critical mindset. I wish some of the fluff would have been made obsolete and it just wasn't so tedious to read in the later chapters. Tom added in a lot of humor which is a nice gesture and some of it comes across as quirky and somewhat funny. In other parts, however, I find his jokes to be a little inappropriate; especially when discussing complex theorems and suddenly adding in a lengthy segue into a rather tired joke - it doesn't help.
Tom is a great speaker and lecturer and trying to read this book in his voice certainly makes it more digestible. I will continue onwards to the second book of the trilogy, but I feel like I need a break before I do so and read a book or two with stronger literary merit.
Overall, I suggest Tom's Big Toe and concepts to everyone with an open and skeptical mind; however, this book might be better suited for those already familiar with his work, who wish to gain deeper understanding and insight into the deductive reasoning and scientific models on which his theory is based.
This first book in the trilogy presents great content with increasing mediocrity.
I've found the first section of the book, the biographical part, to be quite enjoyable and well written. The second part of the book, which touches upon the basic foundations of his theory and the mathematics behind it, could have, as others have already commented, been more engaging in spite of the highly interesting subject matter it deals with. Then again, an attempt to make the theory more palatable would likely lend itself to anthropomorphizing a theory that is grounded in abstract probability states of linear non physical base existence (the absolute unbound oneness / manifold) which would make things seem more relatable but paradoxically further obfuscate any meaning.
It's difficult to rate this book and I have a lot of conflicted feelings about my experience with it. There are several strong points and aspects that I did appreciate, but there are also a lot of things that could have been omitted.
The Positives:
- An enjoyable subjective narrative in the first section
- A highly interesting and solid theory that encourages you to think and wonder
- Some good pointers on practical meditation techniques
- A constant reminder to remain open-minded and skeptical throughout the book
- A good section discussing the limitations of belief-traps and the difference between knowledge derived from first hand experience (widsom) and second-hand knowledge accepted as belief (pseudo-knowledge / ignorance)
- Tom's sense of humor
The Negatives:
- Sometimes tedious writing - especially the sections on space-time and time quantas
- An extremely abstract and long-winded postulate on the base potential of larger reality from which physical and non-physical matter subsets are derived
- A LOT of repetition that starts with the preface and continues throughout the book
- Too much fluff (although helpful in reinforcing certain concepts), it feels like the book ended just when it was starting to discuss the more interesting connections and workings of his theory in detail (these will hopefully be elaborated upon in books 2 and 3...)
- Tom's sense of humor
Tom's theory and ideas can be intriguing, useful and applicable (though I've derived most of my general understanding from his lectures, not this book) if approached with an open and critical mindset. I wish some of the fluff would have been made obsolete and it just wasn't so tedious to read in the later chapters. Tom added in a lot of humor which is a nice gesture and some of it comes across as quirky and somewhat funny. In other parts, however, I find his jokes to be a little inappropriate; especially when discussing complex theorems and suddenly adding in a lengthy segue into a rather tired joke - it doesn't help.
Tom is a great speaker and lecturer and trying to read this book in his voice certainly makes it more digestible. I will continue onwards to the second book of the trilogy, but I feel like I need a break before I do so and read a book or two with stronger literary merit.
Overall, I suggest Tom's Big Toe and concepts to everyone with an open and skeptical mind; however, this book might be better suited for those already familiar with his work, who wish to gain deeper understanding and insight into the deductive reasoning and scientific models on which his theory is based.
This first book in the trilogy presents great content with increasing mediocrity.
August 13, 2017
A tough read. It took me a while. There's a lot to learn and to unlearn here. 1/3 of the trilogy is done for now. I'm sure I'll be going back with highlighter in hand the second time around. Enlightening, daunting, frustrating, exhilarating....
The kind of stuff I tend to gravitate to and kind of how I tend to grapple with things when I'm trying to write myself. Reading and writing should always be about discovery. And entertaining enough to keep you going. And this part of the Big Toe is just that...and more. Give it a try. It can only wake you up...at worst.
The kind of stuff I tend to gravitate to and kind of how I tend to grapple with things when I'm trying to write myself. Reading and writing should always be about discovery. And entertaining enough to keep you going. And this part of the Big Toe is just that...and more. Give it a try. It can only wake you up...at worst.
December 19, 2024
Ugh. I endured the author's silly humor, fantasy math, and love of abbreviations for one reason, Joe Rogan recommended it. Perhaps before committing 12 hours of my life to this, I should have remembered Rogan, at his core, is a comedian. Honestly, though, the belief in Absolute Oneness (or even The Manifold), the falacy of the individual mind, and the prima facie truth that humans can only know the reality they can know, are not novel thoughts. It's an ancient set of beliefs that many of the quantum theory founders gravitated toward as the science they were creating seemed every bit as mystical as the ideas formed in India 3000 years ago. If you are interested in version 1.0 of the belief system described in this book, read up on the Vedic Upanishads.
March 10, 2012
I gave this book three stars because it is not well written on a number of levels. Having said that, I would encourage anyone/everyone to read this book because Campbell has some great science to back up a philosophy about the Ultimate Questions. If it did nothing more than to stir the neurons in your brain in a different direction - and it probably will - this book would be worth the several levels of tediousness it is written in. There is still a lot of excitement in the ideas Campbell offers. And what is more, he offers hope for the human race and for our world. REad it. I am not competent to do more than say "read it."
November 26, 2013
This time I'm listening to the audiobook. It's even better 10 years later and I love Tom's comforting voice.
April 11, 2025
Listened to this as an audiobook, which means I have a tendency to miss things more than reading.
Irrespective, this was a fascinating listen. Tom has some very unique ideas, which — to the non-scientist coming to these theories with an open mind — appear to have an air of plausibility , whilst maintaining a healthy scepticism . This is, essentially, how Tom instructs the reader to be and re-emphasises this point at the finish of this first book in a trilogy. I feel primed and ready to take on the next stage of his theories. In book 1, “Awakening”, Thomas explored consciousness and how this relates to everything, including our universe, world, and everything in it. How do we form consciousness and express ourselves. What quality does that consciousness have and what is the purpose of consciousness? Tom makes some bold yet rational claims and seeks to back his hypothesis up through hard science. He invites us, the reader, to try things for ourselves, to measure, and to form our own opinions, explaining how we may, as non scientists, go about doing this, using practices such as meditation. However, he does emphasise that the majority will give that practice up before developing any level of proficiency, feedback loops, and suitable measures of experience that may, or may not, alter our perspective on the nature of things. Tom covers inter dimensionality, the source (creator, if you wish), universal constants/ speed of light, the speed of thought, the Big Bang, “oneness”, materialism, non-materialism, and much more in this book, which he neatly ties back to consciousness and it’s fundamental hypothesised objective .
Strap yourself in, open your mind and allow his concepts to enter your consciousness, where upon you will form your own objective opinion on the nature of things
Irrespective, this was a fascinating listen. Tom has some very unique ideas, which — to the non-scientist coming to these theories with an open mind — appear to have an air of plausibility , whilst maintaining a healthy scepticism . This is, essentially, how Tom instructs the reader to be and re-emphasises this point at the finish of this first book in a trilogy. I feel primed and ready to take on the next stage of his theories. In book 1, “Awakening”, Thomas explored consciousness and how this relates to everything, including our universe, world, and everything in it. How do we form consciousness and express ourselves. What quality does that consciousness have and what is the purpose of consciousness? Tom makes some bold yet rational claims and seeks to back his hypothesis up through hard science. He invites us, the reader, to try things for ourselves, to measure, and to form our own opinions, explaining how we may, as non scientists, go about doing this, using practices such as meditation. However, he does emphasise that the majority will give that practice up before developing any level of proficiency, feedback loops, and suitable measures of experience that may, or may not, alter our perspective on the nature of things. Tom covers inter dimensionality, the source (creator, if you wish), universal constants/ speed of light, the speed of thought, the Big Bang, “oneness”, materialism, non-materialism, and much more in this book, which he neatly ties back to consciousness and it’s fundamental hypothesised objective .
Strap yourself in, open your mind and allow his concepts to enter your consciousness, where upon you will form your own objective opinion on the nature of things
July 20, 2019
Probably the most important, life changing book that I have ever read.
Over a period of months I had developed my own Theory of Everything linking consciousness to reality and the universe. This was developed from quantum mechanics and my ideas were backed up by the work of leading theorists in the field of Physics. There explanations of course we're always based around numerous complex equations which were beyond me.
I continued developing my theories and moved on into understanding consciousness and how the world we interact with is in fact a giant virtual reality.
Then I discovered Tom Campbell's Big TOE and it meshed exactly with my own thoughts without the need for PHD level equations. Now reading his works he has given my tools to take my ideas even further.
I won't even try to explain these theories. I suggest first that you read some of his presentations that you can download from his web site. Then if interested and you truly have an open mind read the books.
Over a period of months I had developed my own Theory of Everything linking consciousness to reality and the universe. This was developed from quantum mechanics and my ideas were backed up by the work of leading theorists in the field of Physics. There explanations of course we're always based around numerous complex equations which were beyond me.
I continued developing my theories and moved on into understanding consciousness and how the world we interact with is in fact a giant virtual reality.
Then I discovered Tom Campbell's Big TOE and it meshed exactly with my own thoughts without the need for PHD level equations. Now reading his works he has given my tools to take my ideas even further.
I won't even try to explain these theories. I suggest first that you read some of his presentations that you can download from his web site. Then if interested and you truly have an open mind read the books.
November 9, 2025
I tried to read My Big Toe, but as some Goodreads reviewers have pointed out, he says almost nothing of substance. He constantly, almost desperately, tries to convince the reader that he’s a real scientist, in order to justify his outlandish claims about the universe and other realities. He spends most of the book trying to show how smart and rational he is, so that we will somehow accept his later claims. He also keeps coming back to how if the reader doesn’t “get it”, it’s because you haven’t broadened your perspective enough. It’s giving cult leader vibes.
I ended up reading a summary of the three books and he’s basically trying to convince us of some sort of mystical simulation theory. Which could have been quite interesting, and kept me reading, if he had dropped the self-justification and self-congratulation and just got to the point. The 2 stars are for how it was mildly entertaining seeing the meta level psychological tactics he used to try to win over readers.
I ended up reading a summary of the three books and he’s basically trying to convince us of some sort of mystical simulation theory. Which could have been quite interesting, and kept me reading, if he had dropped the self-justification and self-congratulation and just got to the point. The 2 stars are for how it was mildly entertaining seeing the meta level psychological tactics he used to try to win over readers.
April 19, 2019
As others have said, this book changed my life by changing my perspective or frame. I read this book about 10 years ago but didn’t fully comprehend it. I am rereading it as part of a book club and we are digesting and discussing it weekly for 10 weeks or about 80 pages a week.
What has really helped my understanding are the YouTube videos of Tom’s talks. The best I found that distills his book is Tom Campbell - The Monroe Institute lecture. In 2 hours he goes through the science and theory behind Big TOE and establishes that we are conscious beings living in a virtual reality. After weeks I am still getting my head around that. Truly mind blowing!!
Reading (or rereading) the book with this understanding is even more powerful.
What has really helped my understanding are the YouTube videos of Tom’s talks. The best I found that distills his book is Tom Campbell - The Monroe Institute lecture. In 2 hours he goes through the science and theory behind Big TOE and establishes that we are conscious beings living in a virtual reality. After weeks I am still getting my head around that. Truly mind blowing!!
Reading (or rereading) the book with this understanding is even more powerful.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 14, 2025
I really, really wanted to like and get something out of this book. Unfortunately, the author really needs an editor. He trailed quickly off into rambling, asides within asides, descending to near incomprehension in the last few chapters about the speed of light. I’m open to the idea that this is a “me” problem and not a failing of the content, but I regularly read fairly technical material and this was lost in my. I also didn’t find his ideas any the nature of reality to be proof, but rather one possible narrative.
I think I’m disappointed because I actually truly think that Tom is on to something revelatory, but that his delivery style is the main issue, not the theory itself. Perhaps I’ll let this settle and come back to books 2 and 3 in the future.
I think I’m disappointed because I actually truly think that Tom is on to something revelatory, but that his delivery style is the main issue, not the theory itself. Perhaps I’ll let this settle and come back to books 2 and 3 in the future.
July 19, 2025
If you are from the eastern part of the world, or grew up with that kinda setting, you might want to skip this book. I know it's too broad but I am trying to say this was written for an average white man! :D I was initially pissed that I couldn't get all the 3 books for 1 credit on audible, now I am thankful! Not even gonna try the next two books unless someone convinces me to give it a shot. In fact the reason I finished this was I was reading a book on stoicism in parallel which urges us to do things we don't want to do, expose ourselves to stuff that we don't to or something on those lines. I am glad I have access to way better books on this topic and grew up in a culture where most things metaphysics were so normalized.
January 20, 2022
Not finished yet... It was a promising book but now I'm just confused.
Not sure what is the ratio between the real content and the rambling about what he's going to tell me only if I'd have an open mind.
Maybe 30%/70% in favor to the latter.
Exhausting!
It is a really frustrating read after the part of his life experience (except for the meditation part).
I loved Robert Monroe's books and when he mentioned that he worked with him it got me excited, but then nothing happened.
Will keep reading and skipping pages on pages where the author telling me what my mindset needs to be in order to read his book...
Not sure what is the ratio between the real content and the rambling about what he's going to tell me only if I'd have an open mind.
Maybe 30%/70% in favor to the latter.
Exhausting!
It is a really frustrating read after the part of his life experience (except for the meditation part).
I loved Robert Monroe's books and when he mentioned that he worked with him it got me excited, but then nothing happened.
Will keep reading and skipping pages on pages where the author telling me what my mindset needs to be in order to read his book...
April 28, 2024
Brilliant in concept
Thomas Campbell’s theory on the ultimate nature of reality is thoroughly presented in this book. His own meta-physical experiences has led him on a quest to make sense out of these and rather then presenting a philosophical thesis, he has gone beyond that and through science based logic has built a compelling framework of the ultimate truth.
This book is quite heavy reading with lots of digressions and repetitions, which for me interrupted the flow of logic to follow. However the book is patient and the motivated reader would benefit from multiple readings of selected passages in order to get a good fundamental understanding of the concepts.
Thomas Campbell’s theory on the ultimate nature of reality is thoroughly presented in this book. His own meta-physical experiences has led him on a quest to make sense out of these and rather then presenting a philosophical thesis, he has gone beyond that and through science based logic has built a compelling framework of the ultimate truth.
This book is quite heavy reading with lots of digressions and repetitions, which for me interrupted the flow of logic to follow. However the book is patient and the motivated reader would benefit from multiple readings of selected passages in order to get a good fundamental understanding of the concepts.
March 11, 2025
the first book in the trilogy of rom campbell on his theory of everything.
the best thing about the book is that it has a bit of everything, from personal stories to the basis of the theory itself. this is also the worst thing about the book as i was interested in only one of these aspects and felt all the others as distracting.
Campbell worked closely with Monroe and is building upon his experiences with out of body experiences pushing the idea that everything is a simulation. from this simple idea on, evrything falls into place. the explanation of everything is how to fit the existing reality knowledge into the framework of a simulation.
the best thing about the book is that it has a bit of everything, from personal stories to the basis of the theory itself. this is also the worst thing about the book as i was interested in only one of these aspects and felt all the others as distracting.
Campbell worked closely with Monroe and is building upon his experiences with out of body experiences pushing the idea that everything is a simulation. from this simple idea on, evrything falls into place. the explanation of everything is how to fit the existing reality knowledge into the framework of a simulation.
March 2, 2021
The Big TOE the world needs.
A surprise book from a physicist who worked with Robert Monroe on his experiments with Astral Travel. I am thoroughly enjoying and improving the quality of my consciousness through this trilogy. I'm very much looking forward to the insights that the 2nd volume will bring.
It's worth your time. It is somewhat difficult material and you will need to invest some brain power to get the most from this series. But it's more than worth it for the ultimate prize of improving the quality of your consciousness and reduced entropy.
A surprise book from a physicist who worked with Robert Monroe on his experiments with Astral Travel. I am thoroughly enjoying and improving the quality of my consciousness through this trilogy. I'm very much looking forward to the insights that the 2nd volume will bring.
It's worth your time. It is somewhat difficult material and you will need to invest some brain power to get the most from this series. But it's more than worth it for the ultimate prize of improving the quality of your consciousness and reduced entropy.
February 9, 2025
The audible version I listened to had the worst production value I've ever experienced. I had to wear ear buds and have the volume turned all the way up and it was still hard to hear the author. There were odd pauses and changes in tempo and background noise too.
This book has some good ideas but it's not worth slogging through the filler and physics speech.
2/5 - content
0/5 - production value of audible
1/5 total, and that is generous. I listened to his interview on the JRE, and it was far superior than trying to listen to his first book.
This book has some good ideas but it's not worth slogging through the filler and physics speech.
2/5 - content
0/5 - production value of audible
1/5 total, and that is generous. I listened to his interview on the JRE, and it was far superior than trying to listen to his first book.
June 18, 2025
Very interesting
The book is very interesting and I recommend it to anyone interested in understanding our world (and oneself) at a deeper level.
The author insists that his writing style has a reason to be, however I think it would have been possible 1) to be less repetitive and 2) provide more practical examples, metaphors and comparisons to make abstract concepts more accessible.
But again, a very interesting theory and definitely worth exploring, alongside a drink a coffee when needed!
The book is very interesting and I recommend it to anyone interested in understanding our world (and oneself) at a deeper level.
The author insists that his writing style has a reason to be, however I think it would have been possible 1) to be less repetitive and 2) provide more practical examples, metaphors and comparisons to make abstract concepts more accessible.
But again, a very interesting theory and definitely worth exploring, alongside a drink a coffee when needed!
August 8, 2025
Perspectives of the theory of everything are insightful, yet gracefully composed.
I marvel at his ability to bring scientific knowledge into applicable realizations using our era's unique terminology in order to simplify our understanding of how our realities can truly be understood. The wisdom of how vast our opportunities that are at present available to us is astounding. He delivers a positive and optimistic insight into our understanding. I look forward to the next two books.
I marvel at his ability to bring scientific knowledge into applicable realizations using our era's unique terminology in order to simplify our understanding of how our realities can truly be understood. The wisdom of how vast our opportunities that are at present available to us is astounding. He delivers a positive and optimistic insight into our understanding. I look forward to the next two books.
April 20, 2025
This book feels like watching The Matrix for the very first time.
As a cook, I once learned the principle to make any worthwhile sauce is by decreasing the volume, you are increasing the concentration, and the flavour intensifies.
By listening to this book, I decreased the level of my entropy(disorder), I increased the capacity of my consciousness, and my experience was intensified.
Onwards to the book #2!
As a cook, I once learned the principle to make any worthwhile sauce is by decreasing the volume, you are increasing the concentration, and the flavour intensifies.
By listening to this book, I decreased the level of my entropy(disorder), I increased the capacity of my consciousness, and my experience was intensified.
Onwards to the book #2!
May 4, 2025
This is the first book of three on Campbell's 'Big Theory of Everything'. I gave it two stars because he describes some interesting psi experiences that he has had. Unfortunately, for the rest, I find his writing style very unhelpful - repetitive, rambling, unfocused and unclear. I have said about a couple of other books that I've reviewed that they would benefit from a strong editor. I think the same about this one.
December 27, 2022
I kinda liked it, most of the ideas resonated with me, and most of them were conclusions I came up with myself - hence it kinda seemed like "nothing new" to me... also it is just way too long. I might just finally enforce the rule that I will not read non-fiction above 450 pages. Try it again if you can't get your point across in less than 450 pages.
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